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THE BLOODY JEST 



A DRAMA IN 
FOUR ACTS 



BY 

ISRAEL EFROS 




THE GORHAM PRESS 

RICHARD G. BADGER 

BOSTON 



Copyright, 1922, by Israel Efros 



All Rights Reserved 






Made in the United States of America 



The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A. 

AUG -7 1922 

©CI.A681278 



TO MY DEAR SISTER 
IDA 



FOREWORD 

The source of the plot is to be found in Gre- 
gorio Leti's "Life of Sixtus V," where Seche — in 
this play, Antonio — claims a pound of flesh from 
a Roman Jew, named Samson Cenada, as the re- 
sult of a wager. This is elaborated in Wolf 
Pascheles' "Sippurim," a German collection of 
Jewish tales, part IV, pp. 202-210, and was thence 
rendered into English by Claud Field in his 
"Jewish Legends of the Middle Ages." Pascheles 
naively remarks : "Dieser Sage entnahm Eng- 
land's grosses Dichter Shakespeare den StoflF zu 
seinem 'Kaufmann von Venedig'." 



THE BLOODY JEST 



PERSONS 

Samson 

Rosaline, his daughter 

Uriel, her fiance 

Nerissa, maid in the house of Samson 

Antonio 

Martha, his maid 

Beggar-Pope, Pope Sixtus V clad as a beggar 

Monsignor Sangaletto, secret cameriere to the 

Pope 
Tailors and Tailoresses 
Cook 

Nahum., the rhymester 
Band of musicians 
Doctor 

BEPPO ) rrr , 

Cecco [W'"'-*'"^" 

Chief Auditor 

Senator 

Mob of men and women 

Time: i^8y A.D. Place: Rome. 



THE BLOODY JEST 



ACT I 
Scene I 

A drawing room in the house of Samson. A 
candelabrum hangs down from the ceiling. 
In the background, large windows screened 
with embroidery curtains. It is Saturday 
evening at sunset. Red rays enter through 
the curtained windows and play on the floor. 
Nerissa, an elderly maid, sits and doses. 
From an adjoining room to the right, 
Rosaline is heard singing softly: 

God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, 

Father of our ancient race, 
Holy Sabbath bids us farewell, 

And a new week comes apace. 

May the new week bring us tidings 
That will comfort and console, 

Bring a healing to the body, 
And a healing to the soul. 

May it bring us many blessings. 

And a shield against all ill; 
And thy sheep that stray and wander, 

Lord, bring back to Zion's hill. 
II 



12 THE BLOODY JEST 

Martha, a servant girl to Antonio, enters 
through the left door. 

Martha 
Nerissa ! 

Nerissa 

(Starts.) 
Martha! Why how is my dearest Martha? 
And is it time to make a Hght? 

Martha 
It is dark enough, Nerissa. You cannot see two 
inches from, your nose. 

Nerissa 

But you forget this is a Jewish house. At the 

house of Samson no Hght is to be kindled until 

the holy Sabbath is all gone, all gone. But you 

are gentile, Martha. How can you understand? 

Martha 
And you, Nerissa? 

Nerissa 
I have been long enough here to be one of the 
family. (Goes to the window.) Why, you are 
right, Martha. It's time to light the lamp. I see 
stars. 

Martha 
Does not your Jewish master ever make you 
see stars by day? 

Nerissa 
Why no, Martha. (Hurries off to light the 
candelabrum,) 



ACT I 13 

Martha 
Well, I wouldn't have such a master for all the 
Jewish ducats in Rome. (Rosaline is heard 
again singing while Nerissa lights the candela- 
brum.) Why, who is it singing this dirge? 

Nerissa 
It's Rosaline, my master's daughter. 

Martha 
Oh, Rosaline! Antonio, has mentioned that 
name many a time. I'd love to see her, Nerissa. 
Is she fair? 

Nerissa 
Fair like all Jewish daughters. But she is 
fairer, and good too. And yet in her childhood, 
soon after the death of her mother, she was a 
stubborn little thing. I taught her how a Jewess 
must behave and she wouldn't be taught. I taught 
her the Jewish morning prayers, grace after meal, 
and all that a good Jewess, a daughter of Samson, 
should do, but she just giggled and tittered. Oh, 
how I grieved and pleaded : "Rosaline dear, say 
your prayers. Woe is me, you will grow up to 
be a gentile, woe is me." But she just giggled 
and giggled and said, "Nerissa, time for you to 
become a preacher in the synagogue." But now, 
— here she is coming, Martha. 

Rosaline 

(Enters.) 
Good Nerissa, is it not strange that father and 
Uriel haven't yet returned from the Synagogue? 



14 THE BLOODY JEST 

Nerissa 
They went to the Castilian Synagogue to hear 
a Rabbi from Turkey preach, and that's a mile 
or two from here. Be calm, they will be here by 
and by. But, Rosaline, do you know my friend 
Martha? 

Rosaline 
No, I do not, but I am happy to meet a friend 
of my Nerissa. 

Martha 
My master often speaks of you, sweet lady. 

Rosaline 
Who is your master? 

Martha 
Antonio. 

Rosaline 
Oh, Count Antonio Zavello ! He is a good 
friend of our family, and a frequent visitor. 
Father owes the Count countless thanks. But 
forgive me. I hear them coming. 
(Nerissa and Martha withdraw through the left 
door. Samson and Uriel enter through the 
right. ) 
Good evening, father dear; good evening, 
Uriel. How did the Rabbi preach? 

Samson 
So wonderful ; 
He made my blood race swiftly in my veins. 
And made my heart beat faster to a music 
Of golden days unborn, but sure to come. 
He spoke of the Messiah, David's scion, 



ACT I 15 

Who dwells with beggars at the gate of Rome, 
Rags covering his body full of pains; 
And ever and anon he shields his eyes 
And strains his ears to hear approaching steps. 
Ah, yet a day will dawn, a wondrous day, 
Elijah's feet will stand on Mount Zion, 
Clear silver blasts will cleave the morning air 
And shout redemption and awakening. 
Messiah from the ashes will arise 
And sit on David's throne, and all the nations 
Will come and kiss the fringes of his garment. 
And weep and beg forgiveness ; and blessed love 
Will sing and wave white wings in every heart. 

Rosaline 
You speak, good father, like a young-eyed 
dreamer. 

Samson 
Aye, Rosaline, when at our past I gaze, 
I age, the wrinkles in my forehead deepen, 
The heart in me turns indolent and loses 
Its will to beat ; but turning f utureward 
Age melts like Samson's binding ropes. 
And youth sits in a corner in my soul 
And dreams the brightest dreams that youth can 

dream. 
But ah, Uriel, why so sad and pensive? 
Have not the Rabbi's visions thrilled your spirit ? 
Or is it true that to discern the future 
One must have known the past; and only age 
Can be acutely young? 



i6 THE BLOODY JEST . 

Uriel 
The future cheers you, 
But inapproachably the future Hes 
In the ever receding country called To-morrow. 
What of To-day, the only land we breathe in? 

Samson 
What ails To-day? 

Uriel 
Oh, father, do you see 
No sombre cloud hung o'er our firmament? 

Samson 
Clouds make the heavens beautiful and drive 
The luminous monotony away. 
I tell you this, Uriel, and no more: 
God's in his heaven, and Messiah sits 
Among the beggars at the gate of Rome. 
Whom do we fear, my boy? But I must haste 
To make my weekly reckoning wherein 
Colossal debit will look down in scorn 
Upon my pigmy credit. 

(Goes toward the door at the right, humming:) 

Behold He doth not slumber, 
And He doth not sleep, 
The guardian of Israel. 

(Calls out from the adjoining room.) 

If Count Antonio Zavello comes, 
Pray call me in, dear Rosaline. 



ACT I 17 

Rosaline 
I shall, I shall, dear father. 

(Pause. Humming continues.) 

What think you now, Uriel? 

Uriel 

I think your father 
Is much to be admired. 

Rosaline 

He is, indeed. 
So full of trust, so full of confidence. 

Uriel 
What would I not so gladly give away 
For blissful blindness to the sordid present. 
And cloudless vision of a dreamed hereafter. 
Alas, I see too clearly our condition. 
We are confined into a squalid ghetto. 
Like loathsome and contaminating lepers, 
To writhe, to molder, and to perish slowly. 
A badge of shame they hung upon our back 
As if we were the convicts of the world, 
The God-condemned, the fratricidal Cains. 
Believe me, dear, I ne'er forget the badge 
That burns me like a burning coal of fire. 

Rosaline 
But think, Uriel, all this notwithstanding. 
In spite of badges, ghettoes, persecutions. 
That would have hacked to death the soul and 

body 
Of any people, Israel still lives. 



i8 THE BLOODY JEST 

Uriel 
You call it "life", 'tis but a slow decay. 

(Pause. Samson's humming is heard.) 

Rosaline 
You have not always harbored such dread 

thoughts. 
What altered you, Uriel? 

Uriel 

Since my childhood 
When I was left a lorn and lonely orphan, 
And your kind father took me in his care, 
I hearkened to his stories of Messiah, 
Who sits with beggars at the gate of Rome, 
And I believed and waited patiently. 
Of late, I know not why, a change came o'er me; 
I'll tell you, dearest Rosaline. Last year, — 
It was the fast day of the month of Ab, 
The day when fifteen centuries ago 
Rome vanquished us and hurled a torch which set 
Our glorious Jerusalem on fire. 
The day was hot and through the Lateran 
I walked to seek the river's cooling breath. 
And when I passed St. John's basilica, 
I saw the two bronze columns of our Temple 
Engraved: "King Solomon, the son of David." 
I kneeled before the relics of our glory. 
But suddenly I noticed drops of tears, 
Small globules gliding on their cheeks of bronze. 
My heart was moved, and I embraced them 

warmly 
And understood the reason why they wept : 



ACT I 19 

Their own shrine Ues in ruins and desolation 
And they themselves must prop a church of 

Rome. 
Since then I often ask myself: How long? 
And I'm a prey to cruel questionings. 

Rosaline 
I wish I knew a word to soothe your spirit. 

Uriel 
Aye, dearest Rosaline, I know the word 
Which, when I utter, joy pervades my heart, 
A word so sweet, so musical, methinks 
When God so many million years ago 
Stood in the midst of grey and shapeless Nothing, 
He sang it and a lovely world was born. 

Rosaline 
What is this magic word? 

Uriel 

It's Rosaline. 

Rosaline 
You are jesting now and yet I'll pardon it 
If you assure you will not go to Padua. 

Uriel 
I must, my dear, I must. 

Rosaline 

Say not, you must; 
You go because you wish to go. I know 
There are in Padua heavy tomes of wisdom. 
And I'm a simple girl. I should not keep you. 
But I'm so lonely here. 



20 THE BLOODY JEST 

Uriel 

You foolish child 
You think I leave you willingly. You know not 
How sick I am of their philosophy. 
They seek to learn what God is, what are angels, 
And I am still at sea concerning man. 
They scale the skies, I blindly walk the earth. 
They delve into the secrets of creation 
To make a man, a soulless man, a Golem. 
I think we have such Golems now galore, 
No need, it seems, to manufacture more. 

Rosaline 
If so, why leave me dear? You do not know 
The bitterness, the loneliness of longing, 

Uriel 
I do, I do, my darling. 

Rosaline 
Why then leave? 
Or maybe I should speak to father? 

Uriel 

No, 
I spoke to him already. 

Rosaline 
Did you, dear? 
And what did he reply ? 

Uriel 
That 'tis not seemly 
To be too much together with one's bride. 
It is not meet, he said. Well, let me go then. 
It's three months only. Time will quickly fly 
And then — oh, then! My Rosaline, my dear, — 



ACT I 21 

(Nerissa enters and, having spied Rosaline and 
Uriel embracing, she hurries out. Now she 
enters after giving due notice with the clear- 
ing of her throat and stamping of her feet.) 

Nerissa 
The Count Antonio Zavello is here. 

Rosaline 
Oh, father, Count Antonio is there. 

(Nerissa withdraws. Samson enters.) 

Samson 
How is my Count Antonio Zavello? 

Antonio 
As usual, your warmest friend, my Samson. 
And how are you, Uriel ? Why so quick 
From Padua? 

Uriel 
IVe come to visit my good father 
And Rosaline. Tomorrow I depart. 

Antonio 
Sweet Rosaline will grieve at your departure, 
But I shall seek to make my visits frequent. 
For timid sorrow knocks not at the door 
When company is heard within. 

Uriel 

Good Count, 
For this you'll earn my deepest gratitude. 



22 THE BLOODY JEST 

Antonio 
Well, Samson, what good news from your 

finances ? 
It seems you have become quite prosperous. 
You ask no longer for a little loan. 

Samson 
I thank you for the interest you take. 

Antonio 
I take both interest and capital. 

Samson 
I mean your interest in my affairs. 
Indeed, I wish to speak to you. Not here. 
Come down, amico, to our wine-shop. There 
A glass of reddish wine shall lubricate 
The joints of conversation. 

Antonio 

Well bethought. 
Fair Rosaline, your father takes me downwards 
And gladly do I go to his Inferno. 

Rosaline 
Oh, father, take a torch. It is so dark. 
And guard your steps. 

Antonio 

To land in the Inferno 
Is easier when we guard not our steps. 

Samson 
Well said, good friend. Come, come. I blaze 
the way. 

Antonio 
I follow. Fairest Rosaline, goodbye. 
Just for a little while, a tiny wihile. (Exeunt.) 



ACT I 23 

Scene II 
Samson's Wine Shop. 

Antonio 
So this is whence the Uquid exultation, 
The fluid joy, for all the Romans flows. 

Samson 
Aye, so it did, but now a stranger comes 
And steals my bread away. But tell me first 
What wine, Antonio, you cherish most : 
Cicilian or French or Rhenish vintage? 

Antonio 

I'm catholic in taste. No wine is bad. 

Yet give me Rhenish wine. They say Rhine 

maidens 
Are beautiful. I'm sure young Jewesses 
Have greater grace, if only Rosaline 
Be taken as a sample. 

Samson 

Yes, she's fair, 
A perfect copy of her sainted mother. 
Her sable (hair, her big black eyes, her brow 
So white, so tender one can almost see 
The thoughts that walk within, all that and more 
She owes to her, to Rachael, my loved wife. 
Sometimes I see her sunk in meditation 
And feel like crying out : Rachel, Rachel ! 
She is my only treasure. Drink, my friend. 

Antonio 
Here is to your treasure! {Drinks.) 



24 THE BLOODY JEST 

Samson 

Many, many thanks, 

Antonio 
But, Samson, why did you forget yourself? 

Samson 
Nay, nay, did you forget? I am a Jew 
And can not wine or dine with you. 

Antonio 

Indeed, 
I did forget. But pardon if I ask: 
Do you believe we Gentiles are so low 
That we contaminate? 

Samson 

Not low, not high, 
But diflPerent, good Antonio, just different. 
And different from each other let us stay. 
He has an untrained eye who can not see 
That many different colors make the rainbow; 
And he a callous ear that can not feel 
The ecstasy of rich and varied sounds. 
And thus the world would be the poorer if 
One people were to cease to sing its song 
In mankind's many throated symphony. 
You, live and worship God in your own way, 
Indeed, I love you more on that account. 

Antonio 
I'd be much happier, if some one else 
Would love me. Samson, here I raise my glass 
To mankind's symphony and Rosaline! (Drinks.) 



ACT I 25 

Rosaline 
(From above.) 
Oh, father dear, the mendicant is here. 

Samson 
Why, send him down to us, sweet daughter. 

Antonio 
Who is that beggar whom you freely grant 
admittance? 

Samson 
He is a beggar, that is all I know, 
A Christian and yet learned in Jewish lore, 
A pauper and yet full of happiness. 
I like him. Oft I heard when yet a child 
That at the gate of Rome Messiah sits 
Clad as a mendicant ; and even now 
Whenever I see a beggar I suspect him 
Of being a Messiah or some saint. 

Rosaline 
Walk cautiously, old man. The steps are narrow. 

Beggar-Pope 
Mfany thanks, sweet girl. Til hold on to the 
balustrade and if the steps don't crack beneath 
my feet I shall not fall. So here I am. Pax 
vobiscum, friends. Or may be I intrude upon 
you; just tell me and I'll lift up my young legs 
and climb up as fast as the fastest snail. 

Samson 
No, you are welcome, dear brother. 



26 THE BLOODY JEST ^ 

Antonio 
I raise my glass to Messiah and to Rosaline! 
(Drinks.) 

Beggar- Pope 
Who is this strange winebibber? 

Antonio 
I'm Count Antonio Zavello. 

Beggar- Pope 
And I am Beggar Vincenti Felitissimo. 

Antonio 
I'm highly honored to be vouchsafed the rare 
privilege of meeting Beggar Vincenti Felitissimo. 

Beggar- Pope 
Yes, beggars are highly honourable. True they 
have nothing, but they are something. 

Antonio 
And Counts? 

Beggar- Pope 
They have something but are nothing. 

Antonio 
Is it not possible to have and to be something? 

Beggar-Pope 
Hardly, hardly, mio amico. For the more one 
has, the less one is. 

Antonio 
You mean to say, beggar, you crave for no 
wealth, no money? 



ACT I 27 

Beggar- Pope 
Money — 'tis the most damnable curse inflicted 
upon mankind by the Lord's adversary. Take 
the most tender, the most feehng, the most human 
man and give him wealth, and before long he will 
become as cold and hardened as the coins that 
tinkle in his pocket. No heart is so callous, so 
insensible to the woes and agonies of suffering 
humanity as the heart that is smugly encased in 
gold. 'Tis a damnable thing. 

Antonio 
I guess you are right. And so I drink to the 
most honorable people on earth, the beggars! 
(Drinks.) Samson, why not give your eminently 
noble guest a bumper of your richest wine? 

Beggar- Pope 
No, no, no. I drink no wine. 

Antonio 

Well, then, you quaff wine. All honorable 
people do. 

Beggar- Pope 

No, no. You see, there are three stages : no 
drinking, drinking a little and drinking much. In 
the first stage man is comparable to a lamb, so 
innocent, so tame. In the second stage man be- 
comes aware of a sudden strength and vigor and 
is comparable to a lion. In the third stage, that of 
drinking much, man loses all sense of modesty 
and seemliness and is comparable to the king of 
the mire, his majesty, the pig. I'm still in the 
lamb stage. 



28 THE BLOODY JEST 

Antonio 
But, my dear lambkin, why not become just 
a lion? 

Beggar- Pope 
I fear the lure of the third degree. So tempt 
me not. But I see that my good friend, Samson, 
has something to negotiate with you. Count. Is 
it not so, Samson? 

Samson 
Yes, my good friend, something important. 

Beggar-Pope 
Well, then, I shall not disturb. I shall sit at 
a distance and eat my crusty bread which I chew 
with greater gusto than his Holiness, the Pope, 
eats his delicious viands in the Vatican. Here 
I'll sit. 

Samson 
Thank you heartily, good brother. 
And now, Antonio, I wish to tell you 
What fills my heart with gerat anxiety. 

Antonio 
With great impatience do I lend my ear 
To what good Samson has to say. 

Samson 

Oh, Count, 
You've been a most devoted friend to me 
And to my family. I owe you thanks 
Beyond expression for your many favors. 
I wish to ask another favor now. 



ACT I 29 

Antonio 
Quick, Samson, let us hear. 

Samson 

You surely know 
My daughter to Uriel is affianced. 
The wedding day is fixed for three months hence. 
What deeper gladness than to see one's child 
In wedlock joined! My Rachel in her grave 
Awaits impatiently the nuptial day. 
Alas, I lack the wherewithal, the money, 
The damned money, but thrice damned when 
You have it not. Antonio, 1 need 
Two thousand ducats. 

Antonio 

Have I e'er refused you? 

Samson 
But, good Antonio, alas this time 
I have no pledge to give you. All my gold 
And jewels I have sold. 1 have no pledge, 

Antonio 
I need no pledge except yourself, yourself. 

Samson 
Oh, kind, devoted friend, Antonio. 

Antonio 
Why, you yourself are good security. 
Indeed, I do not need the whole of you. 

Samson 
What mean you, good Antonio? 



30 THE BLOODY JEST 

Antonio 
Will not a piece of you be worth the loan? 

Samson 
You price me highly, friend. You manifest 
Surprising trust and generosity. 

Antonio 
Then call a scribe and cause to set it down : 
You pawn a slice, let's say a pound of you, 
A pound of Samson's flesh and from his breast. 

Beggar- Pope 
Why, I congratulate the most worthy Count 
on becoming a butcher and a meat dealer. Now 
don a blood-soiled apron, take a long knife and 
learn many tales — yes, wild ones — to tell the 
women on meat market day, and you'll outdo all 
the butchers in Rome. 

Antonio 
Let the beggar cling to his abscure corner and 
not become too familiar. 

Beggar-Pope 
Yes, nobility. I did forget, I did forget. 
Well, I must take leave. The Holy Father begged 
me to sleep in the Vatican tonight. So farewell, 
Samson. 

Samson 
Fare you well, brother, and good night. 

Beggar- Pope 
And farewell, excellent highness! Farewell, 
farewell, farewell. (Exit.) 



ACT I 31 

Antonio 



Deranged cur 



Samson 
Uriel, Uriel, come down and bring along some 
writing materials. — My Uriel will act as scribe. 
He has a neat and artistic hand. Many a Roman 
lad came to him to write their love epistles. 

Antonio 
Is this how he acquired the art of love making? 

Uriel 
(Enters with Rosaline.) 
Here I am, father, and here the material you 
desire. 

Samson 
Well, sit down here, my scribe, and I shall 
dictate to you. "With the help of heaven. This 
is to acknowledge that I borrowed two thousand 
ducats from Count Antonio Zavello. I am to 
return the aforesaid amount with ..." 

Antonio 
With thirty-two per cent interest. 

Samson 
Yes, "with thirty-two per cent interest within 
three months from this date. Furthermore, I 
pledge a pound of my flesh at my breast — " 

Rosaline 
You can not give such a pledge. It's unheard 
of and brutal. 



32 THE BLOODY JEST 

Uriel 
It's savage and truculent and inhuman. I can 
not spell it. 

Samson 
Oh, offend not my good Antonio. See you 
not it is but a jest, a mock pledge showing the 
magnanimity of my devoted friend who lends me 
money without having any earthly security. 
Come, come, Uriel, write: "at my breast, for 
the payment of my debt, in default of which my 
pledge be forfeited. Signed on this day, July 
19, 1587." Now ril affix my name. 

{He signs his name.) 

Here, good Antonio, here's your bond. 

Antonio 
And here are your two thousand ducats. 

Samson 
I thank you, good Antonio, I thank you. 
Your aid is gauged not by the sum of ducats 
But by the greatness of the need. 

Antonio 

The hour is late 
And I must hasten hence ; so good night, Samson. 
Good night, Uriel, and a happy journey. 
And farewell, sweet and lovely Rosaline. 

{Bows before Rosaline and departs.) 

Samson 
Farewell, farewell, my Count Antonio. 



ACT I 33 

Uriel 
I like not this Antonio. 

Rosaline 
He has a vicious look. 

Samson 
Pray, think not evil of our benefactor. 
All windows of my heart fly open now, 
And happiness, like April winds, runs through 

them 
And fills with singing all my inner chambers. 
Tomorrow I shall call the best of tailors 
And buy the rarest silk and finest satin, 
And Rosaline shall have fair wedding garments. 
Ah, three months more and exquisite musicians 
Shall play that Rachel in her grave may hear 
And send you blessings. . Gome, my children. 
Come press yourselves to me, my dearest children. 

CURTAIN 



ACT II 

A drawing room as in the opening of the first act. 
A group of tailors and tailoresses work at 
the wedding garments of Rosaline. 

One tailor 
Well, let's sing. Begin. 

All 
Ply the needle, ply the needle. 

Stitch and baste and sew ; 
God made all, yet some are happy, 

Some are friends with woe. 

First tailoress 
Ply and ply the tailor's needle, 

How my fingers smart ; 
Wedding robes I make for others. 

Break my lonely heart. 

All 
Ply the needle, ply the needle. 

Stitch and baste and sew ; 
God made all, yet some are happy. 

Some are friends with woe. 

Second tailoress 
Fair the bride is, white and tender, 

Handsome is the groom; 
I have, too, a milk white skin, 
Alas, for whom, for whom? 
34 



ACT II 35 

All 

Ply the needle, etc. 

Third tailoress 
See the silk is skyey azure, 

Soft as love's warm breath; 
But for me there are long white shrouds. 

And the kiss of death. 

All 
Ply the needle, etc. 

Fourth tailoress 
She will don this nuptial garment. 

She will beam with bliss ; 
We who gladness make for others, 

Know not what it is. 

All 
Ply the needle, etc. 

'One tailoress 
Ouch, ouch! I stuck a whole needle into my 
finger. This damned stuff ! 

A TAILOR 

Quickly take it out. It's an expensive needle. 

Second tailor 
(Bursts into loud laughter.) 
Ha, ha, ha! 

Third tailor 
What now, Sartor? 

Second tailor 
Ha, ha, ha ! I sewed up the sleeve. Ha, ha, ha ! 



36 THE BLOODY JEST 

A TAILORESS 

He must have thought the bride was Venus of 
Milo, without arms. 

A TAILOR 

Indeed a woman needs no arms to conquer. 

A TAILORESS 

Nowadays a woman needs both arms and 
brains. 

A TAILOR 

And a good-looking face besides. And here 

comes a perfect blending of the three necessities : 

arms, face and apartments to let ! Hail to your 

corpulent majesty! What's news in Kitchenland? 

{Enter the cook, obese and short.) 

Cook 
I'm so busy. Everything is fine, thank heavens. 
The broth is like Uquid gold, the chicken is so 
soft and so sweet that it just dissolves on the 
tongue and the fish, well, who in Rome can outdo 
Samson's cook in making fish? Small wonder 
that the paupers, for whom special feasts are now 
daily prepared, eat like hungry wolves, fish, fork 
and plate. But detain me not. I'm too busy. 
Nerissa, buy me some sugar. Did you ever see 
anything like it? I was going to put in some 
sugar into the apple sauce and by mistake I 
poured in a glass of salt. You see, I'm so dread- 
fully busy. 

A TAILOR 

But madam cook — 



ACT II 37 

Cook 
No, no, no, detain me not. 

(Runs to the door.) 

A TAILOR 

Oh, lady cook — 

Cook 

No, no, no! Nerissa, some sugar! 
(Runs out.) 

A TAILORESS 

I don't think I'd Hke that apple-sauce. 

A TAILOR 

Well, after all, do we not do with our lives 
precisely what she did with the apple sauce? 
How many growing youths, favored by the fates, 
endowed with talents, with life before them 
royally seasoned with hopes and dreams, suddenly 
with their own hands — give me my shears, broth- 
er, — yes, with their own hands fling a glass of 
salt or do something else and lo ! their lives turn 
so vapid that their own palate revolts against it 
and their own soul sickens. 

Another tailor 
Cease your culinary philosophy or you'll sew 
up another sleeve, sartor. 

Hush, here is Samson coming with a whole 
gang. Let's sing. 

All 
Ply the needle, ply the needle. 

Stitch and baste and sew ; 
God made all, yet some are happy, 
Some are friends with woe. 



38 THE BLOODY JEST 

{Enter Samson and Nahum, the Rhymester with 
a small hand of musicians, talking noisily.) 

Nahum 
I take it this is Samson's residence 
And Samson is a Jew of prominence. . 

{A flourish of music.) 
And Samson's daughter, RosaUne by name 
Is Rome's most beautiful, most lovely dame. 

{A flourish of music.) 
And at her wedding all the girls are glad, 
And every lad but one is deeply sad. 

{A flourish of music.) 
So let us drink and drinking wish to you 
The friendliest "Good Luck" and then — adieu! 
{A long flourish of music.) 

Samson 
You show wonderful skill, Nahum. — Nerissa, 
oh, Nerissa ! Some wine for these good friends. 

Nahum 
Well, what is the matter, Samson? You 
appear to me rather downcast. 

Samson 
No, no, I am very happy. 

Nahum 
No, you are not. For shame, doleful and de- 
jected a few days before your daughter's 
wedding. Think of it! Your daughter's wed- 
ding! Think of it! You are getting rid of a 
daughter! Dance and jump and be happy, 
Samson. 



ACT II 39 

A TAILOR 

Who taught you to rhyme? 

Nahum 
The art of rhyming is a talent 

Of greatest worth; ^ 

It comes not with excessive learning, 

It comes with birth. 

It is the art of seeing Hkeness 

In word and thing; 
It is the art of wedding sounds 

To make them sing. 

ReHgion is but earth arhyming 

With skies above; 
And when two hearts in tune are chiming, 

We call it love. 

A TAILOR 

Well, if you are a rhyme adept, what rhymes 
with Rosaline? 

Uriel, sir. 

But it does not. 

Nahum 

It does, sir, in love. 
(Nerissa brings in wine for all. They drink.) 

For life, Samson. May God help you to derive 
much joy from your children, May God help you 
to lead your grandchildren to the canopy, may . . . 
may . . . may . . . 



Nahum 
A tailor 



40 THE BLOODY JEST 

All 
For life, for life! 

Samson 
For life and peace. May God help us all. 

Nahum 
And do you wish to see how well Nahum the 
Rhymster can execute the Halleluiah dance? 

A TAILOR 

I trust you will not execute it. 
Nahum 

This dance I inherited from my father, the 
wealthiest man of the city who was wont to dance 
at all weddings in order to cheer up the bride 
and groom. 

A TAILOR 

Too bad you did not inherit his wealth rather 
than his terpsichorean art. 

Nahum 
Indeed, sir, I did. Fifteen thousand ducats, 
but where are they ? I do not know. In my case, 
dances did not rhyme with finances. But really 
what need is there for ducats when one can be 
happy without them? Just see the Halleluiah 
dance. 

{He dances and concludes every turn with singing 
the word "Halleluiah." Suddenly, a number 
of masked hoys and girls appear^ the former 
with poles and the latter with festoons of 
roses and dance rhythmically and silently. 
Finally they how and with a shriek disappear. 
All look zvith rapture.) 



ACT II 41 

Nahum 
I thought the rhymester could dance, but I see 
now I was all mistaken, all mistaken. Well, in 
former days, this thing was not tolerated, but 
these are new times. What do you call it, tailor? 
Yes, modernity. But it's pretty, nevertheless. 
It's pretty. Well, Samson, time to leave you 
alone. So good luck ! May God help you to live 
long enough to choose grooms and brides for 
your grandchildren. May God help all Jews and 
also Nahum the Rhymester. May . . . may . . . 
may . . . 

All 
Good night, Samson, good luck and good night ! 

Nahum 
Good night, good luck for evermore. 
May sorrow never know this door. 

(Nahum and the musicians go out.) 

A TAILOR 

He is a happy pauper, master. 

Samson 
All paupers are happy. (Nerissa comes in 
with a taper in her hand.) You wish to light 
the lamp, Nerissa? Yes, it is quite dark, now. 
In these early autumn days, the night falls sud- 
denly like a black veil. Time for you to quit 
work, I think. 

All tailors 
Thank you, master. Good night, good night. 



42 THE BLOODY JEST ^ 

Samson 
Good night to you all. (All tailors leave 
hurriedly.) Nerissa, where is Rosaline? 

Nerissa 
She has gone out for a stroll. She will be back 
shortly. 

{She lights the lamp and goes out, looking with 
astonishment and fear at Samson who walks 
to and fro nervously and whose face assumes 
gradually an aspect of profound sadness.) 

Samson 
Yes, I must do it. There is no other way, no 
other way. 

Nerissa, oh, Nerissa! 

(Nerissa appears.) 

Call the tailor. 

Nerissa 
I shall, sir. 

(Nerissa goes out through the left and Samson 
through the right. Rosaline enters, sees the 
almost finished wedding-robe.) 

Rosaline 
Oh, how pretty ! Just the ribbon sash here and 
a few buttons and it will be done. I'll try it on 
and surprise Nerissa. 

{She puts it on, hides herself behind the door and 
then calls aloud.) 

Nerissa ! 



ACT II 43 

Nerissa 
(Appears and looks around.) 
I thought I heard dear RosaUne calhng. My 
ear must have deceived me. (Goes out.) 

Rosaline 
(Again from her hiding place.) 
Nerissa! Oh, Nerissa! 

Nerissa 
(Reappears.) 

Ah, my big bride is playing like a little child, 
"Peek-a^boo." (Looks around for her and sud- 
denly Rosaline appears clad in her wedding 
gown.) Oh, Rosaline, you are as adorable as an 
angel. 

Rosaline 

Does it become me? 

Nerissa 
Most charmingly. If only Uriel were here! 

Rosaline 
I have a letter from him. 

Nerissa 
You have already told me once. 

Rosaline 
Do you wish to hear it ? 

Nerissa 
You have already read it to me once. 

Rosaline 
I'm angry with you, Nerissa. I'm angry. 



44 THE BLOODY JEST 

Nerissa 
Come, little child. Be not angry with your 
Nerissa. You know the words carry enough of 
sweetness even for the tenth reading. Read it, 
Rosaline. Read, child. 

Rosaline 
(Reads.) 

To my little angel in Rome ! 

My lucubrations are reaching the hoped for 
end. In three days I shall be at home ready for 
the blissful ceremony which will bind our willing 
hearts in threads of hallowed gold. Time is a 
teasing, spiteful, cold-blooded creature: it runs 
swiftly when we wish to stay its course, and 
moves as slow as a snail when we are bound for 
great happiness ; but move it must. So until the 
end is reached, remember your ardently and 
eternally loving — Uriel. 

Now what say you, Nerissa? 

Nerissa 
The letter is like a deep-celled honeycomb filled 
with sweets. I'm happy, dear, happy in your 
happiness. 

Rosaline 
Yes, I'm happy. Yet a little ounce of sorrow 
lies heavily here upon the bottom of my heart. 

Nerissa 
This is the way, dear, all brides feel. Happi- 
ness always comes somewhat diluted, or else we 
could not endure it. — But I forgot. Your father 
will now be angry with me. 



ACT II 45 

Rosaline 
Why, Nerissa? 

Nerissa 
He has sent me on an errand, to bring the 
tailor, and I forgot. 

Rosaline 
What does he need the tailor for? 

Nerissa 
Well, I imagine master Samson will order a 
new gown for you. So I must run. Adieu, dear ! 
(Goes out.) 

Rosaline 
{Alone.) 
A new gown ! It cannot be. 

(Samson appears, who upon spying Rosaline, 
makes a backward, evasive movement, when 
Rosaline notices him.) 

You called the tailor, father? 

Samson 
Yes. 

Rosaline 
But why? And why so dismal looking, father? 
What ails you? 

Samson 
Nothing ails me. 

Rosaline 
Have you heard anything from Uriel? 

Samson 
No. 



46 THE BLOODY JEST 

Rosaline 
Then tell me, father, what's amiss. There is 
something in your face that cries of misery. 

Samson 
Sit down my child and I'll explain to you. 
I'll ask the tailor to take back the garments 
And work no more. 

Rosaline 
You are jesting, father? 

Samson 
I am in no facetious mood, my daughter. 

Rosaline 
What mean you then? 

Samson 
Do you recall I borrowed 
Two thousand ducats from Antonio 
And pledged to pay within three months? 
Today the period of time expires 
And still I cannot pay. I hoped and hoped, 
God will not in His kindness let you stand 
Beneath the canopy in robes unpaid. 
Oh, what a shame! Here gowns are made of 

goodly silk, 
And like small preludes to a feast of sound 
Sweet tones of music daily fill the house; 
And there at tables richly set, the paupers 
Regale themselves and bless me for my bounty, 
And Samson is not man enough to say: 
"Oh, thank not me, not me; I'm generous 



ACT II 47 

With ducats not my own." We like the incense 

Although we may deserve it not. No, no ! 

I cannot bear the pretence and the sham. 

The cat becomes uneasy in the bag, 

I shall release her so that all may know 

That Samson's wealth is a fictitious tale. 

And poverty disgraces none, provided 

We play not being rich. I've hoped so long for 

The day when God would let me lead my daughter 

Beneath the canopy and Rome would see 

A wedding pleasing unto God and men. 

But God ordained not so. So let it be. 

And so a poorer wedding shall be yours, 

A garb of coarser yarn, and the one-eyed fiddler 

Shall do the music. 

Rosaline 
Father, is that all ? 

External pomp is scarcely worth a tear. 

And inner happiness can fully shine 

Through robes of poverty. 

Samson 

Your words of comfort 
And your unruffled spirit give me cheer, 
And teach me how to breast the brunt of fate. 
But listen more. Tomorrow I shall seek 
A buyer for our wineshop to repay 
My debt to Count Antonio. 

Rosaline 

But father, 
The wineshop gives us bread. 



48 THE BLOODY JEST 

Samson 

It gave us more, 
But now — our debts come first. And after that? 
God feedeth all; He'll feed us too, niy daughter. 

Rosaline 
Oh, father, father— 

Samson 

Wait, here comes the tailor. 
Good evening, friend, you cannot guess the 

message 
I have for you. 

Tailor 
Indeed I cannot, sir. 
I trust you find no blemish in our work. 

Samson 
I find no blemish. See, it well becomes her. 
Her face emerges from the mass of draperies, 
A living lily gemmed with tears. Would that 
It might be hers. 

Tailor 
What mean you, master Samson ? 

Samson 
You take it back. I lack the wherewithal 
To pay you for your labor. 

Tailor 

Do not mock me. 

Samson 
Our sages say : "Grown rich — believe it not, 
Grown poor — ^believe." 'Tis a rotating wheel, 
It elevates us to the very top 



ACT II 49 

And blindly crushes us beneath its weight. 

Times were when Rachel was among the living, 

The portals of our wine shop never closed, 

And Samson was the leading Jew of Rome 

And happiness in every corner beamed. 

My wife deceased. I said: God gave, God took. 

I transferred my affection to my daughter, 

My dying Rachel's dearest gift to me. 

But then my wealth began to crumble slowly. 

And now I cannot pay you for your raiment. 

So take it back. Plain garments will suffice. 

It's good she is a valiant Jewish daughter. 

She understands, and Rachel will not blame me. 

God grant that worse than this may not befall. 

Tailor 
But I ask no money, sir. 

Samson 
And I ask no alms. 

Tailor 
But keep the secret of your straits awhile, 
And let the Jews of Rome participate 
In Samson's daughter's wedding as behooves 
The name of Samson. 

Samson 

I scatter to the winds 
The fragments of a name outworn, outlived. 
Go, friend, I am determined. Rosaline 
Go, give him back his robes. The Count is coming. 
I wish to be alone with him. 
(Rosaline and the tailor go out. Antonio 
comes in.) 



50 THE BLOODY JEST 

Good Count, you come in the nick of time, you 
had been in my mind before you overstepped the 
threshold. 

Antonio 

Thanks for entertaining me in so commodious 
and vacant an apartment. But you appear dis- 
traught, Samson. I suppose it's the wedding that 
all Rome talks about. Say, Samson, are you a 
Biblical scholar? 

Samson 
I've learned a little in my youth. 

Antonio 
The Bible relates about Jacob's waiting seven 
years for Rachel, and when the last night arrived, 
lo and behold it was Leah. Does the Holy Book 
anywhere relate about a Rachel's waiting seven 
years for Jacob and when the last night came, 
lo and behold it was someone else? 

Samson 
I gather not the meaning of your words. Be- 
sides, my ear is not attuned to jesting. Let us 
talk money matters. 

Antonio 
My ear is not now attuned to money matters. 
Better call the pretty bride and she will show me 
her silk and satin gowns you had made for her 
wedding. 

Samson 
I pray you, good friend, desist. I wish to talk 
to you about the debt. 



ACT II 51 

Antonio 
Well then let's hear about the debt. 

Samson 
Today the time expires in which I pledged to 
pay you the sum you were kind enough to lend 
me, two thousand ducats. 

Antonio 
And thirty-two per cent interest. 

Samson 
Yes, and thirty-two per cent interest. Alas I 
cannot pay. Tm in dire straits. 
Antonio 
That's good, exceedingly good ! 

Samson 
Why good? 

Antonio 
Well then it's bad, yes exceedingly bad. What 
will my Samson do? 

Samson 
I'll sell my wine shop tomorrow, or the day 
after, and I'll meet my obligation in full. 

Antonio 
The obligation matures today. 

Samson 
I had hoped against hope until the eleventh 
hour that God would not let me part with that 
which gave me and mine bread and butter, but if 



52 THE BLOODY JEST 

this is His will, I shall do so gladly. Surely my 
good friend who has been ever so many times 
kind to me in the past will allow me a few days 
to dispose of my wine shop. 

Antonio 
In Roman law, today does not mean tomorrow. 

Samson 
It may not mean in Roman law, but it does in 
compassion and fellow-feeling and elementary 
humanity. 

Antonio 
Roman law understands not soft femininities. 

Samson 
(After a pause, becoming harsher.) 
What then do you want me to do? 

Antonio 
To give me your daughter. 

Samson 
My daughter, Rosaline? Cease your pleasant- 
ries. They fall like smarting salt upon my 
lacerated heart. My daughter is betrothed to 
Uriel and the wedding is to take place in three 
days. Besides God made her a Jewess and you 
a Christian and the two bloods can never mingle. 
I pray you, jest not. 

Antonio 
I jest not, Samson. Did you forget the pledge 
you gave me for the payment of the debt? 



ACT II S3 

Samson 
You mean a pound of my flesh? 

Antonio 
Yes, and from your breast. 

Samson 
Can it be you were in earnest? 

Antonio 
How innocent you are, Samson ! You Jews 
according to common repute are as sly as a fox 
but really you are guileless as a child, as a little 
child. To be sure I was in earnest. Grant me 
your daughter and I tear this bond into little 
shreds and give you in addition two thousand 
ducats as dowry. But if you refuse me, if you 
prefer this Jewish pennyless commoner to a 
Gentile Count — 

Samson 
(In excitement.) 
Then what? 

Antonio 
Then this bond is filed tomorrow in the Rota. 

Samson 
I do refuse! 

Antonio 
And the twelve prelates will grant me posses- 
sion of my pledge which is a pound of your flesh. 

Samson 
No court of justice can grant it. It is not 
justice, 



54 THE BLOODY JEST 

Antonio 
It need not be. The chief auditor of the Rota 
is my uncle. And on the following day your 
breast will be ripped on a public scaffold. Do 
you refuse, Samson? 

\ Samson 

I refuse, I refuse! You may excise ten pounds 
of my flesh yet no unworthy hand shall touch the 
innocence of my daughter. Get out, you bloody 
cannibal, you blot upon God's noblest work, you 
pitiable specimen of inhumanity ! Begone, before 
my wrath reaches my fists and does you wrong. 
Go tell your courts of justice: ten pounds of 
Samson but not a hair of Samson's daughter. 
You heartless murderer! (Antonio disappears. 
Samson slams the door.) God, my God, help 
me! (Faints.) 

CURTAIN 



ACT III 

The Janiculum before the convent of St. Peter. 
A dense crowd of beggars, sick ones and 
cripples of all sorts is assembled at the con- 
vent door, each provided with a tin bowl for 
soup. At the left side of the stage, the gate 
of the Ghetto. From the right, Pope Sixtus 
V disguised as a beggar enters accompanied 
by his secret cameriere Monsignor Sanga- 
LETTo. They step to the front of the stage. 

Beggar-Pope 
Can you tell me, Monsignor, the meaning of 
this generous display of loving kindness to the 
Lord's afflicted ones ? 

Sangaletto 
Nay, Your Holiness. 

Beggar-Pope 
Call me not Holiness here, you will betray me. 
Besides I have left my white vestments behind 
me in the Vatican. Here I am as I look, one of 
Christ's friends, a beggar. 

Sangaletto 
Most people find it difficult to play their own 
God-given part well, and yet you play two parts 
so wondrously, so truthfully. 

55 



56 THE BLOODY JEST 

Beggar-Pope 
Take me not as a Pope that plays the beggar, 
but rather as a beggar that plays the Pope. The 
coarse blood of common folks, of shepherds and 
gardeners, flows in my veins and I share in their 
little joys and sorrows. See, Sangaletto, see how 
happy these paupers are, with what relish they 
gulp down their solicited soup, and having emp- 
tied their tin bowls how piously they thank the 
Lord! It's only the crowned head of majesty 
that's most wretched and woebegone. I tell you 
there are two treasures in heaven, one is happi- 
ness, the other is royalty, and before the child 
is born, the soul is asked which it chooses ; for no 
one can have both. Wise souls choose happiness 
and silly souls take royalty. But leave me now, 
Sangaletto, I wish to join these my brothers. 

Sangaletto 
I would kiss the hems of your tattered garment, 
but you forbid and thus I must show my rever- 
ence by not showing it. So farewell, farewell, 
a smothered farewell. 

Beggar- Pope 
Farewell, my good Monsignor. 

(Sagaletto leaves through the right. The 
Beggar-Pope bends his back even more, 
steps to the Convent door and obtains a bowl 
of soup, sits down in the shadow of a tree 
and eats with gusto.) 



ACT III 57 

Beggar-Pope 
That was a delicious soup indeed, thank the 

Lord. 

Beggar 
(From the other side of the tree.) 
Delicious you call it? Well you seem to know 
as much about broth as a fish about smgmg. You 
make me laugh, mumper. 

Beggar-Pope 
It tastes good to me. 

Beggar 
Maybe it does. I don't say it doesn't. But it 
could taste better for the twenty-five scudi which 
the good Count Antonio has paid for us. I tell you 
it's the monks and the sisters that take away the 
meat and the fat broth and leave for us only 
boiled water. I know these holy sponges. 

Beggar-Pope 
Is Count Antonio always so generous? 

Beggar 
Nay, nay. But he has won a law suit against 
a Jew,' Samson by name. But you seem to be 
a newcommer here. Whence do you hail, 
mumper? 

Beggar-Pope 
Why, I arrived today from Civita Castellana. 

Beggar 
You might have stayed where you were. Too 
many pigs spoil the pig-sty here. 



58 THE BLOODY JEST 

Beggar-Pope 
Life in Civita Castellana was very dull, people 
are too tight. Around the Vatican I thought 
people give alms more liberally. 

Beggar 
(Laughs.) 
You make me laugh, mumper. The Pope him- 
self likes to take and keep. Have you not heard 
of the millions of ducats he keeps in Fort St. 
Angelo? I'll tell you something. They say the 
Pope sometimes disguises himself as a beggar, 
puts a crutch under his arm and comes here to 
take a bowl of soup. 

Beggar-Pope 
I can't believe it. But tell me, brother, about 
the law case good Antonio won against the Jew. 

Beggar 
They say it was this way. Samson the Jew 
was going to the dogs, financially I mean. So he 
went to Count Antonio and borrowed money and 
promised to forfeit a pound of his flesh at his 
heart in default of payment. 

Beggar-Pope 
A pound of flesh! A strange pledge indeed. 
How much was the debt? 

Beggar 
They say two thousand ducats, quite a prohibi- 
tive price for a pound of Jewish flesh when a 
pound of bacon can be obtained for six baiocchi. 



ACT III 59 

Good Antonio should be punished for that; for 
now all bacon dealers will raise their prices, too. 
Well, the day is declining, so I must go. You 
see this crutch? At home I throw it away and 
run on my legs like an urchin of twelve, but out 
of doors I always keep it by my side, and it 
makes me a fortune, it makes me a fortune. You 
should have crutches, too. Well, adios! (Exit.) 

Beggar-Pope 

Adios ! 

A pound of flesh and at the heart — how cruel ! 

The heart recoils e'en at the thought of it. 

It is the acme of brutality. 

Two years I swayed a mighty iron arm, 

And every day some bandit hanged in public. 

No malefactor high or low escaped. 

At last I thought Rome was a Christian city, 

But now I see Rome is ten thousand miles 

Behind Christianity. 'Tis strange indeed. 

The human mind has made unmeasured strides. 

High up in space unbounded it ascends, 

And from its lofty station it observes 

The many bright and swiftly spinning worlds; 

Into the smallest particle of matter. 

So small as to elude the fleshy eye, 

It delves and spies a thousand things colliding 

And so man opens wide shrine after shrine, 

And with the lamp of reason held aloft 

He enters deeper, deeper into nature ; 

And yet the heart is still a cannibal. 

The human heart still lives in ancient caves. 



6o THE BLOODY JEST 

I've been a swineherd early in my youth, 
And now men have made me their pastor ; 
But leading swines is easier than men. 
Hush, Count Antonio! He looks so sly 
And wily like a serpent. Let him fear 
The Pontiff's crushing heel. I'll hide myself. 
(The gates of the Ghetto open. Antonio and 
Martha enter.) 

Antonio 
Well, have you seen Rosaline? 

Martha 
Yes, I saw her. 

Antonio 
And have you spoken to her? 

Martha 
Yes, I spoke to her. 

Antonio 
And what was the reply? Tell me quickly, 
Martha. 

Martha 
None too gratifying, Count. 

Antonio 
You mean she refused me? 

Martha 
Yes, Count. 

Antonio 
That cannot be. How could she prefer that 
common, impecunious, pale ghost, to me? 



ACT III 6i 

Martha 
All this I explained to her. I described to her 
how fair my master is, how tall and muscular in 
arms — 

Antonio 
Yes, yes, and what did she say? ' 

Martha 
His heart how full of passion, a veritable King 
Solomon that can feed a thousand women with 
his love — 

Antonio 
And what did she reply? 

Martha 
How wealthy, how noble, a Count ! 

Antonio 
Enough now. What did she say? 

Martha 
At first she said nothing, but kept her big, black 
eyes, red from weeping, fixed upon me and I let 
loose the reins upon my words, for had I stopped 
a moment the woman in me would have burst in 
tears. So full of sorrow were her eyes. And 
thein she embraced me, kissing me, saying, 
"Martha, have you a father? Pity my father, my 
poor father. Martha, you are a woman too ; why 
can you not feel with me?" Something began to 
choke me and to bar the escape of my words. 
But I ceased not speaking. I spoke of your manly 
charm and loveliness and of the only way she 



62 THE BLOODY JEST 

can save her father's life, and suddenly, like a 
beast mortally wounded in its breast, she uttered 
a wild shriek and jumped with clinched fists upon 
me, and I ran out to save my life. 

Antonio 
It's a stubborn, silly people. Give them a good 
lashing on their hunches and they will kiss your 
feet, but give them gold, happiness and a name 
and they will bury their teeth in your hands. 

Martha 
I fear you will not have her. 

Antonio 
Fear not. The golden fish may wriggle in my 
grasp, but escape it can not. The pound of 
flesh will steal her proud obstinacy. Tomorrow, 
at the Bocca della Verita, Samson must uncover 
his breast to me ; and until then Rosaline, I wager, 
will change her mind. Come, Martha, come. 
(They betake themselves to the exit on the right 

of the stage, when the Beggar-Pope steps 

out, accosting them.) 

Beggar-Pope 
Good gentry, have you seen the Holy Father, 
the Pope, here? 

Antonio 
I have not, Lazarus. 

Beggar- Pope 
I am sure His Holiness is here. Aye, there He 
is. See you him not yonder among the trees? 



ACT III 63 

Antonio 
Yonder among the trees? No, I see him not. 

Beggar- Pope 
Well, see now, yonder on the road. 

Antonio 
Yonder on the road ? Indeed, I see him not. 

Beggar-Pope 
Good Count, your optical instruments must he 
terribly foggy. To be sure I can not see him, but 
you can. 

Martha 
This mendicant seems to be slightly moon- 
struck. 

Antonio 
Get you gone, Bedlamite, or you may lose a 
costly rib or two. Get you off. (Exeunt.) 

Beggar-Pope 
(Hops away.) 
Not so angry, merciful Count. Well, farewell, 
I am sure you will meet the Pope by and by. 
Farewell, my gold, my happiness. Farewell, you 
bloody, bestial soul, making unholy the human 
form in which you hide your blackness. How 
has your clay been touched by God! Plot, plot, 
Antonio, tomorrow the snake you feed in your 
heart will fling itself around your neck and send 
its poison back into your veins. Farewell, fare- 
well, you'll meet the Pontiff by and by. Hush, 
what a noise and hulabaloo ! Let me see. 



64 THE BLOODY JEST 

(A great confusion and uproar. The stage be- 
comes filled with people, shouting, wailing, 
screaming, "a doctor, a doctor." One man 
carries a girl, her wet hair hanging down 
and water dripping from her. She is laid on 
a rough wooden bench.) 

One man 
And have you called the doctor? 

Second man 
Yes, yes, I have. 

Third man 
Call her father ! 

Fourth man 
Who is her father? 

Fifth man 
Samson, Samson. 

Fourth man 
Is this Rosaline? I'll call him at once. 

A WOMAN 

Is this the sweet bride, Rosaline? Woe is me. 

Another woman 
She was such a lovely little girl. Why did she 
do it? 

A MAN 

Make way ! The doctor ! the doctor ! Move 
back, woman. 



ACT III 65 

Second man 
Move back, oh, move back ! 
(Hush. The doctor approaches and attends to 
her. All look with bated breath.) 

Third man 
How is she, doctor, hov^r is she? 

The doctor 
It's nothing alarming. Let her he still for a 
little while. Apparently she was pulled out of 
the water immediately. 

A WOMAN 

Yes, yes, I pu'lled her out but not so quickly. 
I was washing and beating my linen at the brink 
of the river. Suddenly I see a girl climbing upon 
the promontory that overhangs the dreaded whirl- 
pool where they say two evil spirits of the water 
combat and make the water all around roar and 
boil, and where many a young bather sank and 
never came out again. I shouted to her, "Be 
careful, girl. Climb not further. You'll fall." 
But she heard me not, and having reached the 
highest peak she raised her two arms — thus — 
and dashed headlong into the seething whirlpool. 
I tarried not a moment. I've been a swimmer 
since I was a girl. And so I quickly plunged and 
made my way to her. I overtook her and seized 
her hand, but she with fierce might grasped me 
with her other arm by my neck and wished to 
pull me down, down. I struggled with her, I 
know not how long, until I clutched at her fore- 
locks and saved her. 



66 THE BLOODY JEST 

Second woman 
And did you not fear? They say bad things 
will happen to any one who saves some one else 
from drowning. 

First, woman 
Who thinks of what they say when there is 
such a pretty little lady drowning? 

The doctor 
You are a valiant woman. Her father is much 
beholden to you. 

A man 
Make way, make way. Samson is here. 

Samson 
(Rushes in.) 
Oh, Rosaline, my Rosaline, my dearest Rosa- 
line, soul of my life, speak to your father, speak? 

The doctor 
Let her be, foolish man. It's nothing alarming. 
She was quickly taken out of the water. But she 
must have rest, quiet. Let all this multitude dis- 
perse. Let them go home. 

One man 
Go home, go home ! 

Second man 
Let's leave them in peace. 

All 
Peace, peace. 
(All withdraw except the Beggar-Pope.) 



■7 



ACT III 67 

The doctor 
Worry not, old man. She will feel better anon. 
I bid you good night. (IVithdraws.) 

Samson 

Good night. , . , j -^ 

(He paces to and fro and wrings his hands tn 
despair.) 

Beggar-Pope 
Is your distress so very great 

Samson 
Yes, my friend, it is. 

Beggar-Pope 
Then have faith in the Lord, Samson. 

Samson 
I have, my friend. But you know not the 
greatness of my suffering. 

Beggar-Pope 
I do know, Samson, I know all. But teU me 
why have you given him so brutal a pledge. Have 
you not brought with your own hands this mis- 
fortune upon you? 

Samson 
He suggested the pledge jestingly, and I 
laughed. Of what good is a pound of human 
flesh ^ I thanked him for his trust in me and for 
lending me money without any earthly security, 
and had it so stipulated in the bond. But now 
he is turning the jest into a bloody reality. 



68 THE BLOODY JEST 

Beggar-Pope 
I shall seek to help you, Samson. 

Samson 
I know your heart is good, but no one can help 
me. He has won the case in the Rota and to- 
morrow I shall be flayed. No one can help me 
save God. 

Beggar-Pope 
And God sometimes chooses the humblest and 
the lowliest to bring His help. 

Samson 
Your words are a balm but can not heal. 

Rosaline 
(Faintly.) 
Father. 

Samson 
Sweet Rosaline, how feel you? 

Rosaline 
Better. But it were better if I did not feel 
better. 

Samson 
Speak not thus. It's a sin. It's as sinful to 
take one's own life as to take another man's life. 
All life is God's. 

Rosaline 
I wished to save your life. Antonio means me, 
and once I'm gone, he will leave you in peace. 



ACT III 69 

Samson 
Your life is more important than mine. I have 
had my chance, my sunshine and my clouds, but 
you are a young flower just about to unfold your 
tender petals to the sky. No hand shall be laid 
on you. 

Rosaline 
Father, why do we suffer so much? 

Samson 
(Falls upon her breast.) 
I know not, I know not, daughter. 

Beggar- Pope 
If this is not a sin, I know not what is. Have 
you no faith or trust in God? For shame, old 
man, making his little daughter cry two days be- 
fore the wedding and making her sweet eyes red. 
What will Uriel say? And see, Samson, she is 
all 'wet and the cool evening breeze is blowing. 
What a merciless father! You must go home 
and warm yourself. You walk before, Samson, 
and I shall lead Rosaline. Come, come, thus. 
And tomorrow God will help. And then Samson 
will lead his little daughter beneath the canopy, 
and Uriel will stand by Rosaline's side and there 
will be music and candles and everybody will be 
so happy. I tell you tomorrow God will help. 

CURTAIN 



ACT IV 

A square named Bocca della Verita. Two 
workmen give the last finishing touches to a 
scaffold. An afternoon. 

Beppo 

{Sings.) 
One glass, one little glass of wine 

What wondrous magic in it lies ! 
All pain and sorrow melt away 

Like clouds afloat in summer skies. 

The little boy in us that fell asleep 
In some forgotten, far off day, 

Wakes up and rubs his dreamy eyes 
And starts to sing and shout and play. 

And then the heart is flooded o'er 

With singing, surging waves, it seems ; 

We take a silvery light canoe 
And paddle to an isle of dreams. 

One glass, a little glass of wine 
What magic, what good witchery ! 

All sorrow and all grief are gone 
The heart becomes so Ught, so free. 

{He raises a mug of wine and drinks. Cecco 
takes it from his hands and sings.) 
70 



ACT IV 71 

Cecco 
Indeed so good a thing is wine, 

It makes us feel so glad. 
If seas were wine instead of brine, 

I'd choose to be a shad. 

If angels drink, I'm sure they drink 

The cherished drink of men. 
If ink were drink instead of ink, 

I'd choose to be a pen. 

(Drinks.) 

It's quite hot. The late summer sun is showing 
what it can do. 

Beppo 
Yes, indeed. {Sneezes.) 

Cecco 
God bless your heart, but I pity you. 

Beppo 

Why so, brother? 

Cecco 
Have you not heard that if you sneeze three 
times in succession you will be an old maid? 

Beppo 
That's pretty bad. To be a maid is bad, and to 
be old is bad, and to be an old maid is twice bad. 
So in order to be on sure ground I'll sneeze again 
and make it four times, 



y2 THE BLOODY JEST 

Cecco 

Why do you not look at the sun. You know 
that if you feel like sneezing it's good to look at 
the sun. 

Beppo 
Oh, I tried. It's only good at night. And here 
is a fellow with an ornament on his back. 
(Uriel enters, homeward from Padua, carrying 
some baggage.) 

Uriel 
What is it, friend, you are building? 

Cecco 
What do you think we build? 

Uriel 
Why answer a question with a question. If I 
knew I shouldn't have inquired. 

Cecco 
A synagogue, sir. Do you wish to be the 
cantor, the one that chants, thus? (Delivers a 
staccato.) 

Uriel 
No, this has no appearance of a house of 
worship. Tell me, friend, what will this be? 

Cecco 
Well, then a pig-market. 

Uriel 
Are there so many pigs in Rome that you must 
open a new market? 



ACT IV 73 

Cecco 
But we will sell here Jewish pig. 

Uriel 
A pig is un-Jewish. 

Cecco 
Well, then, we will sell here Jewish un-Jewish 
pig. [Excitedly.) You muddle my wits, Jew. 
What do you want of me? 

Uriel 
Why irritated? Just tell a friend in intelligible 
prose what this is to be. 

Beppo 
I'll tell you, sirrah. This is to be a jolly junket. 

Uriel 
A jolly junket? 

Beppo 
Aye, aye, and all the Romans will be gathered 
here and a kind Jew will let his heart be excised 
for the diversion of the Romans. 

Uriel 
What devil hides in you that you talk about 
such cruelty in accents so calm and unruffled? 

Beppo 
But he can live without such a thing as a heart. 
I have heard many Jews do. 

Uriel 
Hold your tongue, ruffian. What human hand 
will do the excision? 



74 THE BLOODY JEST 

Cecco 
The noble Count Antonio Zavello. 

Uriel 
Count Antonio ? . . . God ! who is the Jew ! 

Cecco 
Samson, his name is. 

Uriel 
God, it's the bond ! My father, Samson ! 
(Runs out.) 

Cecco 
Samson his father? And I thought he had no 
son. 

Beppo 
Samson is his future father-in-law and a 
father-in-law is in law a father. 

Cecco 
So this is Uriel who is to marry the pretty 
Rosaline. All Rome is agog and astir over this 
wedding. 

Beppo 
Yes, indeed, he is just returning from Padua, 
ready for his nuptials. Poor thing. 

Cecco 
No wonder my words struck him like a thun- 
derbolt. He seized my arms and clinched them 
with iron fingers and gave '^me such a jerk that 
I thought I would have to walk a mile around 
to pick up my little bones. 



ACT IV 75 

Beppo 
I think you will not like to engage in a friendly 
chat with him again. 

Cecco 
I think not. We sometimes think the Jew 
a humble and timorous creature, a worm. Rail 
at him, if you please, spit upon him. Trample 
him. But, by the holy Virgin, there is something 
in him which, when hurt, will suddenly transform 
the creeping worm into a howling giant. Give 
me the mug, Beppo. (Drinks.) 

Beppo 
Say, Cecco, will you keep your eyes wide open 
when Antonio digs his scalpel into the Jew's 
breast ? 

Cecco 
Surely, and as wide as this. (Shows him 
with his hands.) 

Beppo 
And will blood flow? 

Cecco 
I'm not certain that this red wine flows in a 
Hebrew's internal aqueducts, but if it does, it 
will doubtless gush abundantly. 

Beppo 
I think I shall not look at that part of the 
scene. I'll close my eyes — thus — or I'll turn 
aside. You see, Cecco, I have a weak heart. 



y(i THE BLOODY JEST 

Cecco, 
There you are, Beppo, a week hearted old maid. 
No wonder you sneezed three times. You beetle- 
head, Count Antonio is giving a picnic to the 
Romans. Twill be a grand sight. Now tell me, 
nincompoop, is a sight for the seeing or for the 
blind? I, too, have a human heart. I never 
assassinated a spider. My mother-in-law, ever- 
lasting peace to her, (she is still awfully alive,) 
taught me that a Christian must not cause a 
spider to die. But this is a Jew, mooncalf. 
Twill be a grand scene. 

Beppo 
Maybe you're right. I guess you are right. 
But a Jew is a living thing. 

Cecco 
The Jew, my dear milkmaid, is the devil's 
apprentice. Know you this? {Both cross them- 
selves. ) 

i 

Beppo 
Indeed I have heard it full many a time. 

Cecco 
And he has horns and a tail, too. Know you 
this? 

Beppo 

I have heard that, too. Once I was employed 

at the ihouse of a Jew in the Ghetto. The master 

was gone, and I was alone with his little boy, a 

black-haired, clever-eyed little man. I wished to 



ACT IV ^7 

see the horns and the tail of that little Jew, and 
so I spoke to him kindly and sweetly, until he 
trusted me and came over to me. 

Cecco 
Well, Beppo? 

Beppo 
I felt his head and his other place, but no horns, 
no tail. 

Cecco 
You beetlehead, those Jews have the power to 
draw in their horns and tails. And when you 
approach them, they look human, perfectly 
human, just like you and me. 

Beppo 
You are wise, Cecco, and well informed. So 
tell me, is it true what I have heard, that our 
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, was a Jew? 

Cecco 
Now you have sinned. Indeed you have 
sinned. And next Sunday you must mention it 
in your confession. Jesus, our Redeemer, was 
an Italian. 

Beppo 
Was He, Cecco? Thank you, Cecco. I am 
so glad. 

Cecco 
To be sure He was. I see His name in ever^^ 
Italian book. He lived in a town called Bethle- 
hem; it must be not far from Rome. 



78 THE BLOODY JEST 

Beppo 
Thank you, thank you, Cecco. I am so happy, 
so happy. 

Cecco 

Hush now. We were so buried in the matter 

of our conversation, or in the conversation of the 

matter, that we noticed not what was going on. 

See, the square is filled and the scene begins anon. 

(During the foregoing a mass of people gradually 
fill the stage. Now the Chief Auditor, 
scribe and other officials clad in their regalia, 
enter and mount to their seats. Then 
Samson with Rosaline and Uriel and hal- 
berdiers. Behind them Antonio and 
Martha in the guise of a page.) 

Antonio 
There is something pressing on my heart. I walk 
As if I went to my doom, not to Samson's. 

Martha 
My count, when woman starts to play the man. 
Let man not take the part of woman. 

Antonio 

Martha, 
You know I meant not Samson, but his daughter. 
Alas, when acts miscarry, they create 
A train of acts which we perforce must play 
Until the bloody end. Come, Martha, follow. 

(They mount to their seats.) 



ACT IV 79 

Chief Auditor 
I hope my fellow Romans, you know well 
The essence of the case. The Rota granted 
To Count Antonio a pound of flesh 
From Samson's breast, the nominated pledge 
Now forfeited by failing to repay 
The past due debt of twice a thousand ducats. 
We therefore gather here to execute 
The Rota's just decision and do justice. 
For justice means not just to see the right, 
But seeing it, to give it flesh and blood 
And cage the airy truth in solid facts. 
Oh, Samson, have you ought to say? 

Samson 
The earthly court already passed its judgment, 
I can only file my case in the court on high 
Where truth and justice speak a different 

language. 
I've nought to say, but, if the court is gracious, 
I shall exchange a word with these my children. 

Chief Auditor 
We gladly grant you, Samson, this request. 

Samson 
Come here, my daughter, God may help me yet. 
So cry not, child. 

Rosaline 
Oh, father, oh, my father! 

Uriel 
I can no longer, father, rival you 
In bearing on my face the mask of calm. 



8o THE BLOODY JEST 

My stormy feelings break their chains asunder 
And cry Hke wounded wolves. How can you, 

father, 
How can you be so imperturbable? 

Samson 
Like water to the fish, so suffering 
Is to the Jew. It is our element. 
It is the air we breathe; and not to suffer 
It to be short of breath. Now, magistrate, 
I'm ready. 

Chief Auditor 
Have you scales, Antonio? 

Martha 
Aye, sir, and here it is, a truthful balance. 

Uriel 
Hold off a while, oh, Count Antonio, 
What profit is there in a pound of flesh? 
Man is the crown of all divine creations 
And yet his flesh won't fetch us one baiocco; 
Combine, I pray you, mercy with reflexion. 
Here is your capital and interest, 
And keep your hands unsoiled with human blood. 

Antonio 
The debt is now past due and Roman law 
Awarded me the pledge. 

Uriel 
There is a law 
God graved indelibly upon your heart. 
Why need you Roman law? 



ACT IV 8i 

Antonio 

I want the pledge. 

Mob 
The pledge, the pledge, Antonio, the pledge. 

Samson 
The rabble is athirst for Jewish blood. 

Uriel 
{To the mob.) 
Oh, many-headed, monstrous ignorance, 
Oh, pack of wolves, oh, heartless. Godless crea- 
tures. 
Why howl and clamor thus for Jewish blood ? 
What have we done, what crime have we com- 
mitted, 
Except to give a Prophet to the hounds 
And Holy Writings to a herd of swine? 
What have we done to you? I feel in me 
A weak and wordless cry of centuries 
Of casting our young sons to hungry lions 
In order to regale old Roman matrons 
And pampered Caesars, centuries of pyres 
And pillories and pious Inquisitions 
And wallowing in our blood. What have we 

done ? 
I know God's hidden purpose wills us suffer. 
But woe to them that deal us all this torture.. 

Mob 
The pledge, Antonio, the pound of flesh ! 



82 THE BLOODY JEST 

Uriel 
I do not curse, I only pity you, 
You leprous hearts, you crippled sickly souls. 
You maddened rabble, you unfinished things 
Who have left the beast but have not reached the 

man. 
I pity you. 

Mob 
The pledge, the pledge, the pledge ! 

Chief Auditor 
The Romans are uneasy; hasten, Samson, 
And bare your breast. 

Samson 

Oh, grant me, magistrate. 
One fleeting moment more. 

Chief Auditor 

*Tis granted, Samson. 

Samson 
Uriel, hear. If God vouchsafed me not 
To lead my daughter to the canopy. 
Oh, let me see her now in your arms. 
Uriel, pray, embrace her. 

Rosaline 

Father, father! 

Uriel 
Hov^ ill a time and place for shows of love. 
Come, Rosaline. Let's take our father's blessings. 



ACT IV 83 

Samson 
May God his blessings shower upon you, children, 
Remember Rachel and forget not me — 
Antonio, I'm ready now. I bare 
My heart. You seem to like a Jewish heart. 

Uriel 
Halt, 'halt. I can not see this bloody act. 
Halt, murderer, or I will turn your dirk 
Into your filthy entrails. 

Antonio 

Unhand me, Hebrew cur! 
Chief Auditor 
Oh, part them, halberdiers! Oh, quickly part 
them. 

Samson 
Uriel, cease, I pray you, cease, oh cease I 
Uriel, such a rage is not becoming 
A member of our race. We take not fate 
Into our own hands. Antonio, 
My breast awaits your knife. Pray, tarry not. 
God, in Thy hands my spirit I commit. 

Voices 
Make way. Oh, move aside ! Aside ! Make way. 

(A Senator, on a white mule, clad in black, with 
a golden chain across his hredst, enters and 
rides through the wonder-stricken crowd.) 

Senator 
The Holy Father sends me to exhort 
Antonio to pity the poor Samson. 



84 THE BLOODY JEST 

Antonio 
Indeed, I pity him, but he must pay. 

Senator 
Can Samson pay his debt? 

Uriel 

Aye, sir, he can, 
And here's the capital, with interest. 

Antonio 
The debt is due no longer. 'Tis the pledge 
The law awarded me. 

Senator 

Once more I ask you. 
Antonio, just add an ounce of Christ 
To your too legal soul. 

Antonio 
I want the pledge. 

Senator 
Chief Auditor, a witness has been found 
Who has a word to say. I'll let him come. 

{He makes a signal. A royal lifeguard hurries 
to the Vatican, and before long a group of 
lifeguards arrive and make way. A flourish 
of trumpet is heard and the Pope, mounted 
on a mule, surrounded by several cardinals, 
comes in.) 

Pope 

I'm the witness. Count Antonio. 

These men here think Antonio demanded 

A pound of flesh as surety for his loan. 



ACT IV 85 

What needs the Count a pound of Jewish flesh 

When pig is well digested in his paunch? 

Nay, nay, Antonio is passing sleek. 

The pledge he planned might be a crimson string 

To pull and bring the stubborn, lovely heifer. 

Alas, poor Count, the Jews think much of honor 

And innocence is not a coin outworn. 

The cord with which you would the heifer bring 

Thus tore and you may hang yourself therewith. 

You calculating scamp, you scoundrel, draff of 
mankind, 

You liked not Samson, but you liked his daug'hter. 
Could you have thought you might seduce a 

Jewess 
Or slay a guileless Jew and I would slumber? 
Could you forget so soon the many culprits 
That daily hung and swung upon that bridge? 
Nay, fear not. You may yet be spared the gibbet, 
And that for Samson's sake and not for yours. 
For little would he prize his rescued life 
If some one else would lose through him his own. 
So bend your knees before him, Christian eyesore, 
Perchance he'll let you breathe your filthy breath. 

Antonio 

(Kneels.) 
Oh, Samson, sin is an intoxication 
That casts a sleep upon the man in man. 
I knew not, Samson, what I willed to do. 
The Holy Father's words have sunk in me 
Like flaming iron bars. Oh, I recoil 
With shame from my unworthy, sinful self. 
Forgive me, Jew. My life is in your hands. 



86 THE BLOODY JEST 

Samson 
I rub my eyes. O can all this be real ? 
Support me, Rosaline. ^ 

Rosaline 
Yes, father, real. 
'Tis sudden and yet real. 

Uriel 

God has saved us. 

Antonio 
Indeed, God saved you. See you not He saved 

you. 
Now save your foe's life, too. 

Samson 

All life is God's 
And who am I to grant life or deny? 
Oh, rise, Antonio; with all my heart 
I'm ready to forgive and to forget. 
And pray accept the full amount I owe you. 

Pope 
Nay, nay. Let Samson keep the whole amount 
As his indemnity. Antonio, 
Run home now, glad that you escape alive. 
And when you pass that bridge, think 'twas a Jew 
Who robbed you of a chance to show your art 
Of dancing yonder in the windy air. 
And when you see a beggar, talk not loud 
Lest he report your plotting to the Pope. 
Run home. 

(Antonio kneels before the Pope and goes out 
through the crowd.) 



ACT IV 87 

Samson 
Your Holiness, I am not gifted 
To make my gratefulness speak howso feebly, 
But in our silent prayers to our God 
I with my children shall remember you. 

(Bends and kisses the hem of his garment.) 

Pope 
Nay, nay. It is the Christian that must kiss 
The hems of Israel's robe and ask forgiveness. 
Now, farewell, Samson. 

Samson 

Farewell. God be with you. 

Pope 
And be not all too lavish with your heart 
In deaUng with your friends. Farewell, farewell. 

Voices 
Long live the Pope! 

Other voices 
Long live the Holy Father! 

Other voices 
Long live the Jew! 

{Flourish of trumpets. The Pope ascends his 
mule and leaves the stage together with his 
retinue of cardinals. The whole populace 
disperses after pressing the hands of Sam- 
son. The latter, Uriel and Rosaline are 
left alone.) 



88 THE BLOODY JEST 

Uriel 
The riffraff's mind is mercurial, it changes. 

Samson 
The mercury of friendship always follows 
The sinking and the rising of our fortunes. 
But see, Uriel, this great Christian Father 
Is like a jewel, soUd and unshrinking. 
Oh, one sudh man puts honey into life 
And makes religions clasp and kiss each other. 
I'm very faint. 

Rosaline 
What is it? You're so pale. 
How feel you, father? 

Samson 

Truly like a ghost, 
Who from his grave returned. I'm very tired. 
Tomorrow is the day of happiness 
For me, for you my children and for Rachel. 
So let's go home and rest. But see, the dancers ! 

(A number of masked boys and girls appear, as 
in Act II. The former with poles and the 
latter with festoons of roses and myrtles, and 
dance rhythmically and silently. Finally they 
bow and disappear with a shriek.) 

Uriel 
They must have heard the news of our release 
And hied to greet us on this very spot 
Of tears and joy. 



ACT IV 89 

Samson 
See how the west is blazing 
And every cloud that passes turns to gold. 
In moments of distress we noticed not 
How beautiful God's world around us was. 
Come, children, come. On either side a child. 

(Exeunt.) 

CURTAIN 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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